1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lawn and garden tractors having a mowing deck, and more specifically, to a foot pedal system for raising and lowering the deck.
2 Related Art
Lawn and garden tractors conventionally have a mower deck suspended from a frame, with the deck being raised and lowered by means of a hand-actuated lever. Such a hand lever necessarily requires strength in the operator""s arm and back. Movement of the hand lever includes a risk of back strain to the operator, who normally is bending over or leaning forward from the tractor seat to operate the lever. Full raising of the deck is particularly desirable for transport of the tractor when the mower blades are not engaged for cutting. Complete lowering of the deck is necessary when the deck is to be removed from the tractor for maintenance or other purposes.
Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of a pedal lift system for raising and lowering the mower deck of a lawn or garden tractor.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a foot pedal for use by a person sitting on the seat of a lawn or garden tractor to raise and lower the mower deck.
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of foot pedal lift system for a lawn tractor mower deck which can be quickly and easily actuated for raising and lowering the mower deck.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a foot pedal for raising and lowering the mower deck of a lawn or garden tractor which can be latched to retain the deck in a raised or lowered position.
In accordance with the above objectives, the lawn tractor of the present invention has a foot pedal pivotally mounted to the frame and linked to the deck to move the deck between a raised transport position and a lowered deck-removal position. A latch is pivotally mounted to an exterior portion of the tractor console, and is adapted to engage the foot pedal to retain the pedal in a forward depressed position wherein the deck is raised and a rearward retracted position wherein the deck is lowered. A manually operated handle mounted on the console is connected to the latch so as to manually actuate the latch for engagement with or disengagement from the foot pedal. A spring extends between the frame and the foot pedal to bias the pedal toward the forward position.
The objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description in view of the drawings.